A forum for beginners and members of other Buddhist traditions to ask questions about Theravāda (The Way of the Elders). Responses require moderator approval before they are visible in order to double-check alignment to Theravāda orthodoxy.

I have edited this edition fairly extensively, adding more footnotes, and hyperlinks for easy access to the cross-references when reading it online or if reading the PDF version while online. Links will open in your default browser.

This important teaching on the practice of bare attention — when you see, just know that you see it, when you hear, just know that you hear it, when you sense or cognise something, just know that you know it — was also given to Bāhiya Dārucīriya.

This discourse was an exhortation given by the Sayādaw to his disciples on the occasion of the annual gathering in December 1970, when his disciples from all over Burma came to the main centre in Rangoon to pay respects, listen to an exhortation, and cultivate good friendship.

Added A Discourse on the Purābheda Sutta. This Sutta is from the Suttanipāta, and is one of the six Mahāsamaya discourses given to devas and brahmas. It is about the qualities that distinguish an Arahant — a tranquil sage.

I started editing this in 1997 before I last went to Burma, and have only just completed it. Though it seems short at only 70 pages, it was five talks and full of references. It has taken the last few weeks to get to this stage.

I welcome any feedback — there may well still be some errors and typos.

I have also updated the Photo Gallery with some new images. High Resolutions images are in WebP format — you will need to use a supporting browser, or download them and open in IrfanView 4.32, which was used to create them from my original high resolution (600 dpi) scans.

This is one of those difficult tasks that I have put off for years, but I finally got around to completing a first draft. It is not even available on my web site yet, as I have only completed a first run through, and a quick check in PDF-XChange viewer to see that its basically OK.